New homes planned as Bourne health centre proposal is scrapped

Plans to build a new medical centre in Bourne have been abandoned and permission has now been granted to put housing on the site.

Proposals for a health facility on land off Falcon Way were first revealed back in 2005 and outline planning permission for the development was granted in 2007 and again in 2010.

But at a meeting of South Kesteven District Council’s Development Control Committee in Grantham on Tuesday, a new application for the site saw outline planning permission for 19 homes approved.

Paperwork submitted to the committee said the applicant, One Medical Ltd, had been seeking to develop a health centre on the site for 12 years, originally working with local health practices on the project.

But, the report added, “The CCG [clinical commissioning group] would only offer contracts for a service for a period of 12 months. This meant the scheme was not deliverable as the practice was unable to enter a lease agreement with the applicant without risk.

“In addition to this The Surgery on North Road, Bourne has obtained planning permission for a two-storey extension. For these reasons the applicant has resolved that there is no prospect of delivering a medical centre or similar on the site”.

The outline planning application featured a suggested layout for 19 new homes – a mixture of single-bedroom apartments, two and three-bedroom semis and three-bedroom detached properties. Seven of the apartments would be so-called affordable homes.

The final layout and designs could change before a full planning application is submitted.

The indicative layout suggests that main access to the site for vehicles could be from Falcon Way along the northern boundary of the site.

If the development proceeds, a section 106 agreement would see the developer contribute £84,803 towards local education services. There would also be an off-site open space contribution of £13,838 which would go towards local charity Bourne2Play’s project to create a new play area at the Wellhead.

The Mercury has contacted the planning agent representing One Medical Ltd for comment, but had not received a response at the time of going to press yesterday.